Ventilating curtain for mines



Oct. 21, 1930. A. J. LOCKHART VENTILATING CURTAIN FOR MINES Filed Nov. 28, 19 27 Inventor V AQJZoek/zart Allorney Patented Oct. 21, 1930 v ANDY ,JZLOCKHART, 01: NORTH BIRM NG AM; ALABAMA:

vm mmmaxc mmmn U (Application-filed November 2a, 927. {Sam at. 236,355. p

rial and may be'used over'and over in "different locations.

A further object of my invention is to 1 provide a curtain to be employed in ventilat ing mine'stogetherwith simple and effective means; for securing the curtain in position.

A more particular object of my invention v isto providea fabric'curtain for use inmines 1 '15 and embodying a flexible supporting and remforcing member in the fabric, saidcreinforc ing member to be attached to the wallsfor' roof of the mine workings.

r r r A :still' furtheri'object of my invention is p T to provide a fabric curtain for use-in ventilat d' I ing'mines and embodying a flexible, support ingand reinforcing. member extending along E near -the edge of 'thel fabric, together with o v 7 means for attaching-the 'supporting' member 5725 to thewallor roof-pfthe mine'workings. Y

' As is well 'understoo'd 'in art to which ,my-invention relates, as the work of remote ing coal or ore from amine proceeds, an'd thel workingsiare extended farther and farther 1'30 into thei earth, i-t'is necessaryfthat meansjbe' '.providedjifor circulating freshf air through-"1 the workings'for the workmen'andftoclear I "line -I-II- I IIofIFig. '2.- 1 v V 4 theworkings of-gas Inorderto accomplish i'this, air is usually pumped, or "forced by blowers,'inwardly through the drift or tunnel where the work isbeing done, therair 'retur 11-' ing by way of an air-ch te, or passa'gef ex -tending alongside the drift or .,tunne1. 'Asi the Work, proc'eeds', the successiveopenings eubetweenhthe drift; or tunnel and the return air chute are usually 'curtained off to prevent a short circuit of the air before it reaches 7 the inner workingsof the mine. Further-i more, it may benecessary'to curtain the main air passage in orderto divert the air into the rooms which 'are'being worked, 'r-It is this curtaining of the passages w-ith which my invention is particularly related.

I, Heretofore, ;in curtaining off the work-- T ings of a mine, 1n order .to' divert the alrcur 1 Fi 7' a d ft rt mne i lO,fleadnga ithe' inner workings'of' the; mine, Leading off Y 7 "from the'drift, orltunnel, 1Q areQa pluraIity F I of rooms, 11to;15 inclusive, "from; which the i [coal orore is successively remoyedgf Inlorder r to ventilate the, workingsfair:fis forced. J 'j through thedrift'ontunnd lO iHftheldirec- 1- ti'on shown the arrows, returning byway] "Iarated from the driftlo by a: M11 22; Inorder to provide communication between the :d-rift or tunnel l0 and 'the' air fch'utef2lja I v lplurality of opening si'ich fasf23ji are prozvided w'all rent 'theret-hrough, it has beenthe: customito first provide a framework of timberand then nail the curtain to the framework.

This-method of doing the work has been'objectionable'o'n account of the amount of m'ateri-a-l necessary to'carryon the work,-andalso r V onaccount of the fact that the frame work 7 could not make a tight joint with the rough surface of the openings in a mine." Further-u m0r'e,}a curtain soused, could never be used 66 again,-'due to the fact that itcouldfnot be removed without tearing or without down the frame .Vwork; i r A 'llhese' and other object ons are overcome i 'by means of my inventiom wherein-a fabric" v "curtain 1sprov1ded havln'g embod ed ther'em:

a flexible, supporting, reinforcing member,

.togethenwith-means for attachingthe cur-4 'tai n' by the reinforcing member,- directly to thewalls or roofioffthe, mine'workingsf 1 order that myinvention'may be more clearly understood, reference wi llfibe jihad to the accompanying drawing, formingvifa partf 7 of thi's" application, wherein v Figil is a"sectionalplan'view 'of a pine-, f; showing the workmgs and the a rpassages j :1 1 I there n,,ancl:provided with curtain'sf in' ac- Q 7 cordancejwitlrmy invention; H

Fig.2, is a front elevation partly injsee' showlngmyamproved curtalns n place]; ,80

tion, and' 7 w 'F1 53'is a sect on" 1' we t QPRe'ferring imvtogthedrawing?lishoiwin; I i 7 As the work of; remo' ing th anaemia-1th? and air chute'21 are extended further into the earth, and the openings 23 are successively curtained off as at 24, in order that the air shall circulate through the entire workings. It may also be necessary to'provide a curtain across the drift 10, as at 25, in order to divert the air into a room, such as 12-. jl'Vhere it ha s heretofore been the practice to provide a frame for each succesreinforcing member, such as BQ emb died o suliii'cient strength tosupport the curtain. d flexible enough to lie snugly along the 4 irbugh summer the mine workin so; as

in the fabric of the strip'and extending along near one edge. thereof, The reinforc ng manberja'a is flexible, such as a wire, and is to prevent air leaks thereby, In the example shojwn, the IBlIlfOIClIlg member 82 1s threadedfthrough the fabric alternately one side to the other, but 1t Wl l be apparent that may. be attached in inar y vvlays, the essen ti'althin' being thatit forms sturdy support for thefcurtaini Preferably, the reinforcing member 32 1950 inserted asito leave 1 a, free edge or fiapg whichmay serve asa e i 7 "om theforegoing itvvill be app reciatedl r that lh ave devised system. of curtaining c m or pacliing means to'prevent air overlap drive into each of the holes fiiarwoodeii plug 37, the plugs tightly engaging the Walls so as notto become displacedoi puli out.

Into, the plugs 37 are driven staplesBS which j straddle the reinforcing member 32" and thus,

serve to'draw the flexible reinforcing rnember"t1ghtly,aga1nst the Walls of the mine workings. 1

again.

' the Workings of a mine, which-greatly reduces the lnaterialqandilaborf ofrsuch opera- ,tion,.-,provides1a tighter seali-againstttheruh- V ;..1-

v leakage. Where'inorethanronestrip 31 is .einployed,,they are arrangedso as: w J mrdflthus prevent air leaks by the strips;

filnfiorder to sec r tlie jenrtain imp-lace, I drilljlioles, such "as 3'6'3 6fat suitable winter A vale, preferablyin the roof of theminevvork- V jag-"s, Where the curtainfi's to be placedand desired flow of air current, and'provides a curtain Which-maybe put upandtaken down ithout damage thereto.

lVhile I have shown my invention inbut one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon asare imposed by the'prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims. lVhatI'claim'is: V '1. In. a minehavingi opening to be cur-V 'tained',a"fabrie curtain having afleirible reinforcing wire threaded through the fabric -tained, the combination of a: curtain com p ising. "a plurality of strips' of fabric,5afieiible reinforcing; ire threaded through; each of the strips and extending along. near an edge thereofla plurality of supporting plugs embedded in the a roof. ct the opening 1511b; stant'ially flushwith; the surface of the roof, means; for securing the strips in@Qyer-lapped relation to the plugs; and with the fabric,

Qdrawn up against the roof, and with the out- WI 'rdi marginal edges 1 of the strips {lying aga nst-the s de Walls-10f the open ng;

,- a curtain comprisinga plurality "oflthe openin to the" and extending along nearan edge thereof, a plurality of supporting plugs embeclfdedin the roof of the opening substantially flush with the surfaceof thehroof and staples straddling the wire, andfdriven into; the

t 3. lnflga mine,havingjanopening to be 'curta ne I ofstripspfiabric each of sufhcient length 'to extend; from-the the; reinforcoingwifie to hangjshe I strips in 7 fabricdrawn tightly 511p againsts the roof,

afiix Signature. J 3

retrain. I

'ow zrlapped:re'lation and .livith the ioutivard ,inarglnal' edges of the curtain; lying against a the; side Walls of .the ;op'en'ing and'vvith: the

V I blere inforcingijwire I threaded through ea'ch'pstrip', of the; fabric and extending across i said strip near the np- V per. edgethereof-,l-a plurality of supporting Asinay be seen in 2, the curtain is 1 so put; in position that its'sides liesnugly the walls ofthe opening and is made long enough to touch the vfloor of thejvvorkin'gs. j The Weight of the curtain is usually fsi'iflicient to Withstand any pressure differ- 7 V ence betwen the two sides; It will be apparent, however, that'fifnecessary the curl gt ti y-wh mi f I 't'ain ma be similarly secured alongits sides. a r V Should it be desired to take down my liniproved curtain and" useit, in some other lo fication', it is only nejcessaryto pull, the staples 3'8 froin the plugs '37 whereuponihe curtain i 7;, it

maybe taken down'withont damage a-nd'used 

